Editing Shaolin Monastery (section)

===Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties===
[[File:Shaolin Temple (10198851855).jpg|thumb|Devaraja Hall of Shaolin Monastery, first built during the Yuan dynasty and renovated many times during the Ming and Qing dynasties.]]

At the beginning of the [[Yuan dynasty]], [[Kublai Khan|Emperor Shizu of Yuan]] installed the monk Xueting Fuyu ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=雪庭福裕}}, 1203–1275) as the abbot of Shaolin and put him in charge of all the temples in the Mount Song area. During this period, the abbot undertook important construction work, including the building of the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. He also introduced the generational lineage system of the Shaolin disciples through a 70-character poem—each character in line corresponding to the name of the next generation of disciples. In 1260, Fuyu was honored with the title of the Divine Buddhist Master and in 1312 posthumously named Duke of Jin ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=晉國公|p=jìn guó gōng}}) by the Yuan emperor.

The fall of the Yuan dynasty and the establishment of the [[Ming dynasty]] brought much unrest, in which the temple community needed to defend itself from rebels and bandits. During the [[Red Turban Rebellion]] in the 14th century, bandits ransacked the monastery for its real or supposed valuables, destroying much of the temple and driving the monks away. The monastery was likely abandoned from 1351 or 1356 (the most likely dates for the attack) to at least 1359, when government troops retook Henan. The events of this period would later figure heavily in 16th-century legends of the temple's patron saint [[Vajrapani]], with the story being changed to claim a victory for the monks, rather than a defeat.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=83–85}}

With the establishment of the Ming dynasty by mid-14th century, Shaolin recovered, and a large part of the monastic community that fled during the Red Turban attacks returned. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty, the government did not advocate martial arts. During the reign of the [[Jiajing Emperor]], [[Wokou|Japanese pirates]] harassed China's coastal areas, and generals Yu Dayou and [[Qi Jiguang]] led their troops against the pirates. During his stay in Fujian, Qi Jiguang convened martial artists from all over China, including local Shaolin monks, to develop a set of boxing and staff fighting techniques to be used against Japanese pirates. Owing to the monks' merits in fighting against the Japanese, the government renovated the temple on a large scale, and Shaolin enjoyed certain privileges, such as food tax exemption, granted by the government. Afterward, Shaolin monks were recruited by the Ming government at least six times to participate in wars. Due to their outstanding contribution to Chinese military success, the imperial court built monuments and buildings for Shaolin Temple on numerous occasions. This also contributed to the establishment of the legitimacy of Shaolin kung fu in the national martial arts community. During the Ming Dynasty (in mid-16th century), Shaolin reached its apogee and held its position as the central place of the Caodong School of Chan Buddhism.

In 1641, rebel forces led by [[Li Zicheng]] sacked the monastery due to the monks' support of the Ming dynasty and the possible threat they posed to the rebels. This effectively destroyed the temple's fighting force.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=185–188}} The temple fell into ruin and was home to only a few monks until the early 18th century, when the government of the [[Qing dynasty]] patronized and restored it.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|p=182–183, 190}}

During the Qing dynasty, Shaolin Temple was favored by Qing emperors. In the 43rd year of the [[Kangxi Emperor]]'s reign (1704), the emperor gifted a tablet to the temple, with the characters {{lang-zh|labels=no|c=少林寺}} ({{lang-zh|labels=no|p=shàolín sì}}) engraved on it in his calligraphy (originally hung in the Heavenly King Hall and later moved by the Mountain Gate). In the 13th year of the [[Yongzheng Emperor]]'s reign (1735), important reconstructions were financed by the court, including the rebuilding of the gate and the Thousand Buddha's Hall. In the 15th year of his rule (1750), the [[Qianlong Emperor]] personally visited Shaolin Temple, stayed at the abbot's room overnight, and wrote poems and tablet inscriptions.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

A well-known story of the temple from this period is that it was destroyed by the Qing government for supposed anti-Qing activities. Variously said to have taken place in 1647 under the [[Shunzhi Emperor]], in 1674, 1677, or 1714 under the [[Kangxi Emperor]], or in 1728 or 1732 under the [[Yongzheng Emperor]], this destruction is also supposed to have helped spread Shaolin martial arts throughout China by means of the [[Five Elders|five fugitive monks]]. Some accounts claim that a supposed southern Shaolin Temple was destroyed instead of, or in addition to, the temple in Henan: Ju Ke, in the ''Qing bai lei chao'' (1917), locates this temple in [[Fujian]]. These stories commonly appear in legendary or popular accounts of martial history and in ''[[wuxia]]'' fiction.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

While these latter accounts are popular among martial artists and often serve as origin stories for various martial arts styles, they are viewed by scholars as fictional. The accounts are known through often inconsistent 19th-century secret society histories and popular literature, and also appear to draw on both [[Fujianese dialect|Fujianese]] folklore and popular narratives, such as the classical novel ''[[Water Margin]]''. Modern scholarly attention to the tales is mainly concerned with their role as folklore.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|p=183–185}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Brian |first2=Elizabeth |last2=Guo |title=Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals: A Historical Survey |location=Berkeley |publisher=North Atlantic Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-55643-557-7 |page=70}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McKeown |first=Trevor W. |chapter=Shaolin Temple Legends, Chinese Secret Societies, and the Chinese Martial Arts |title=Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation |editor1=Green |editor2=Svinth |pages=112–113}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Murry |first1=Dian |author2=Qin Baoqi |title=The Origins of the Tiandihui: The Chinese Triads in Legend and History |location=Stanford |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8047-2324-4 |pages=154–156}}</ref>